Opposition leader declares new day

Parliamentary newcomer Craig Cannonier declared "It's a new day" after he narrowly beat sole challenger Bob Richards for the leadership of the fledgling One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) in a tense leadership race on Saturday night.

Cannonier, a 48-year-old businessman who is expected to be sworn in as the island's new Opposition leader on Monday, scored 344 votes to Shadow Finance Minister Richards' 330, with eight spoilt ballots, according to results announced early Sunday morning by party chairman Thad Hollis at the party's conference attended by around 1,000 people at the Fairmont Southampton.

Cannonier, one of three OBA senators in the Upper House, replaces lawyer and former newspaper editor John Barritt, who became the party's interim leader after it was formed earlier this year in a merger between the short-lived Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA), which Cannonier headed but without a seat in parliament, and seven former United Bermuda Party (UBP) MPs.

In a separate vote, Senator Michael Dunkley defeated MP Trevor Moniz by 506 votes to 163 to become the OBA's deputy leader.

Cannonier, who runs a string of petrol (gas) stations, is currently shadow economy, trade and industry minister.

He told reporters after his leadership victory: "It's a new day. I'm glad the voting was so close because it shows that we are engaged.

Moving the country forward

"The OBA is very, very serious about moving this country forward."

Praising his opponent and Dunkley, he added: "We would not be who we are without gentlemen like this.

"Now we get to work, now we stand unified because with us unified, nothing can stop us."

He said of Richards: "This man is a great man right here and I look forward to working with him."

A disappointed Richards, son of Guyana-born former UBP Premier Sir Edward Richards, said: "I'm what they call a political bridesmaid. I've nothing much else to say. But I'm still a team member."

Earlier in the night, Cannonier spoke passionately about race, telling the audience the OBA must confront the issue head-on and not allow the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) to direct the conversation.

In his speech to delegates, Richards said the PLP's Achilles heel was the economy - the national debt has ballooned to more than US$1 billion - and claimed the OBA needed to make that issue its strength by electing him leader.

It was the second defeat suffered by Richards in a leadership race.

Two years ago, he lost to Kim Swan in a battle for the leadership of the UBP, then the official opposition party.

Swan, a former professional golfer, and Charlie Swan declined to join the OBA and still sit in the House of Assembly under the UBP banner, even though the 47-year-old party appeared to have been dismantled earlier this year.

The UBP ran the country for 30 years, winning eight general elections, until it was toppled from power by the PLP in 1998.

The PLP, which has twice been re-elected, won 22 seats to the UBP's 14 in 2007. Five UBP MPs later quit the party, three of them helping to launch the BDA two years ago.

The OBA's new-look team comes as the island prepares for another general election.

Although it is not due until 2012, many pundits believe Premier Paula Cox will call an early national poll.